We have recently demonstrated that extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from the human teeth stem cells improve motor symptoms and normalize tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression in the nigrostriatal structures of Parkinson's disease (PD) model rats obtained by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) unilateral injection into the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). The aim of this study was to clarify: (1) how long therapeutic effects persist after discontinuation of 17-day intranasal administration of EVs in 6-OHDA rats; (2) may EVs reverse cognitive (learning/memory) dysfunction in these PD model rats; (3) whether and how the behavioral improvement may be related to the expression of TH and Nissl bodies count in the nigrostriatal structures. Our results demonstrated that in 6-OHDA rats, gait was normalized even ten days after discontinuation of EVs administration. EVs successfully reversed 6-OHDA-induced impairment in spatial learning/memory performance; however, the beneficial effect was shorter (up to post-treatment day 6) than that revealed for gait improvement. The shorter effect of EVs coincided with both full normalization of TH expression and Nissl bodies count in the nigrostriatal structures, while slight but significant increase in the 6-OHDA-decreased Nissl count persisted in the substantia nigra even on the post-treatment day 20, supposedly due to the continuation of protein synthesis in the living cells. The obtained data indicate the usefulness of further studies to find the optimal administration regimen which could be translated into clinical trials on PD patients, as well as to clarify other-apart from dopaminergic-neuromodulatory pathways involved in the EVs mechanism of action.
Keywords: Extracellular vesicles; Gait; Learning/memory; Parkinson’s disease model.